I'm excited to dissect this paper, I strongly agree that marketing is everything for the success of a project. I have a really technical background and for me "marketing" doesn't mean any woo-woo, it's 1) crafting a clear message, 2) highlighting benefits vs features, 3) measure returns so you know where to focus marketing activities (aka your time).
To give an example with numbers, last year we launched Solo [1], an open security key. Solo is the successor of U2F Zero, a project that sold about 5k units = ~$45k in mid 2017-2018. In just 3 months (Sep-Nov 2018), focusing on a crowdfunding campaign [2], we made $125k from about 3k backers. Note, in the campaign, that we always referenced to benefits vs features (not trying to say this is perfect, just trying to show concrete examples -- also, most of the structure is copied frm Pebble [3], one of the most successful Kickstarter campaign):
- FIDO2: easy to use and always secure login.
- Open source: verified and trustworthy.
- Colors: choose from many to match your style.
- Hardware: quality that won't let you down.
- Getting Started guides: multilingual and accessible around the globe.
I just want to clarify that in no way I'm saying marketing comes before making the product. Of course, without U2F Zero, we couldn't have Solo made and shipped in just 3-4 months. Experience and technical abilities to execute are everything. But marketing makes the difference between good/sustainable revenue (or in general success, however you define it) vs not.
Very strictly related, is talking about your own project, to everybody. Marketing should help crafting a clear message, and focusing on why the listener should care. This brings to new ideas and -I think- it's at the core of open source.
Back to our example, while talking about Solo we got to know another project, Tomu [4], a tiny device that fits in the USB port, and by connecting with their team we ended up making Somu [5], a tiny security key that fits in the USB port, bringing together the best of both projects, namely tiny form factor and security.
In summary, I think that marketing not only is key to make your product successful, but also to help you talk about it and share it in a way that will bring more ideas, and even bigger success.
To give an example with numbers, last year we launched Solo [1], an open security key. Solo is the successor of U2F Zero, a project that sold about 5k units = ~$45k in mid 2017-2018. In just 3 months (Sep-Nov 2018), focusing on a crowdfunding campaign [2], we made $125k from about 3k backers. Note, in the campaign, that we always referenced to benefits vs features (not trying to say this is perfect, just trying to show concrete examples -- also, most of the structure is copied frm Pebble [3], one of the most successful Kickstarter campaign):
- FIDO2: easy to use and always secure login.
- Open source: verified and trustworthy.
- Colors: choose from many to match your style.
- Hardware: quality that won't let you down.
- Getting Started guides: multilingual and accessible around the globe.
I just want to clarify that in no way I'm saying marketing comes before making the product. Of course, without U2F Zero, we couldn't have Solo made and shipped in just 3-4 months. Experience and technical abilities to execute are everything. But marketing makes the difference between good/sustainable revenue (or in general success, however you define it) vs not.
Very strictly related, is talking about your own project, to everybody. Marketing should help crafting a clear message, and focusing on why the listener should care. This brings to new ideas and -I think- it's at the core of open source.
Back to our example, while talking about Solo we got to know another project, Tomu [4], a tiny device that fits in the USB port, and by connecting with their team we ended up making Somu [5], a tiny security key that fits in the USB port, bringing together the best of both projects, namely tiny form factor and security.
In summary, I think that marketing not only is key to make your product successful, but also to help you talk about it and share it in a way that will bring more ideas, and even bigger success.
[1] https://solokeys.com
[2] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/conorpatrick/solo-the-f...
[3] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/getpebble/pebble-2-time...
[4] https://tomu.im
[5] https://www.crowdsupply.com/solokeys/somu